Original subtitles

We have a full closure on Canada's busiest highway.

DAVE PETTITT (NARRATOR): This time on Heavy Rescue, 401...

We're tapered off going this way, right?

..truck on the median...

Hey, Sarge, the tanker is leaking.

..wine on the road.

I don't know what we're getting into.

..wreck in the woods... Ready, Freddy?

..winds up Duncan...

No way, Duncan. I'm going in! Aw...

I got good news. ..and a lakeside rescue...

I'm way too stupid to be scared.

..is sinking fast.

Stop everything. The ground's goin' on us.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

An early evening blast of winter...

..is turning into a nightmare on the highways of Toronto...

Right now, the snow's coming down pretty heavily.

We've got the snowploughs out.

..but even with plough crews fighting the battle,

one careless move could create mayhem on the 401.

We want people to drive according to the weather conditions right now,

especially since the roads are covered in snow.

You are going to need that stopping distance.

..and by 10pm...

crashes are piling up as fast as the snow.

(SIREN WAILS)

50 miles west of the city...

..drivers heading in both directions aren't going anywhere.

Let me know when we're all in position

before you move anybody.

Acting OPP Sergeant Tim Dunnah

is facing an overturned tanker on the median,

shutting down the entire 401.

We have full closure on Canada's busiest highway.

OK.

This is a major traffic hazard, right now.

We are backed right up into Milton.

Traffic conditions are getting worse by the minute.

This is a monumental clean-up.

I've never seen a crash like this before,

a tanker truck that's on its side,

filled with wine.

That's a one-in-a-million type collision.

It's a huge challenge.

(THEME MUSIC)

I really want to get this lane moving.

We're tapered off going this way, right?

Yeah.

This stretch of highway never sleeps.

It's a main corridor to US-Canada border.

There's constant transport truck traffic.

Sergeant Dunnah's first goal...

If I move my police car into our barrels,

we'll start funnelling this, get this moving.

..trying to open one westbound lane

to ease the backlog in at least one direction...

So, like, two minutes?

Yeah. OK!

..but with the wreck straddling the median,

even that will be a challenge.

This collision could have

easily been a fatality investigation.

That truck driver was very lucky.

A pickup was travelling westbound

when it smashed into a stopped SUV, cutting off the tanker,

which swerved and crashed into the median.

Hi, sir. How's it going?

Everything OK? Yeah.

Until some traffic can move,

Sergeant Dunnah checks on drivers stuck in the freezing night.

What's happening back there?

Yeah, I know. They're just sleeping, literally.

Well, this is why.

It's backed up most likely into Peel region.

People are hungry, tired.

We need to get these folks home.

Let's go, let's go. Come on, let's go.

Let's go!

Can't see nothing.

The crew on scene will try to shift the truck

to the eastbound side, clearing room for westbound drivers.

We're rigging out right now.

Chain this tractor,

and we're going to put it over the other side.

OK, everybody move, please.

Go ahead!

We have lift-off here.

Wow!

Guys, watch the tanker, watch the tanker!

Tanker is moving with the truck,

'cause it's still attached to the fifth wheel.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

With the truck out of the way,

frustrated drivers can get on their way...

We're almost ready.

You'll be first,

and you'll just drive carefully through.

401 westbound

is now in the process of moving in the right lane only.

..but for now,

traffic heading in the other direction

is still stuck.

Now, our next hurdle is the eastbound side,

which is closed down right now.

..and opening that side up just became a bigger problem.

Hey, Sarge... Yeah?

I just wanted to let you know, the tanker is leaking.

Leaking what? Wine.

Oh, my gosh.

When the tanker shifted,

the load started pouring onto the pavement.

They need to offload the remaining wine

to a second trailer.

Once we get a tanker here, how do they pump it?

They'll just siphon it into the next one.

It's going to take about 30 minutes before it gets here.

It's a dynamic situation.

200 miles down the highway...

..the southwestern end of the 401 is moving well...

OK.

..but County Towing's Derek Didone Sr

is heading to a call off the highway,

a remote job site on the edge of Lake Erie.

Got a call from a customer here,

and it sounds like he's in a bit of a panic.

An excavation crew working a night job needs urgent help.

I've called Eric to bring the rotator out to me.

Definitely going to take both our heavies.

Lots of dangers working at night, number one around the water,

number two around the cliffs.

Just behind Derek,

Eric Godard is ready for a tough night.

It's going to be one of those jobs

where everybody's gonna have to keep their head

on a swivel to keep it safe and get the thing done.

I'm OK, on this side!

First, they have to make it to the scene.

We've got to manoeuvre both heavy wreckers

in between houses and large trees, so that's challenge number one.

Once they can get a look,

there are more challenges lurking below the bluff.

Well, we're building a break wall,

and the track came off out in the water.

Couldn't get it up, so had to call you guys.

The hobbled excavator is dangling right over the water...

The operator was extremely lucky.

Had he continued that rotation over that wall,

that machine was gonna end up under the water,

and there was gonna be no way out.

You ready? Go!

..and with the soft terrain,

the wrecker and rotator could end up underwater themselves.

We're putting 40,000-to-50,000-pound trucks

on a fresh cliff bank to pull up 80,000 plus.

Make sure the teeth are down, then pull the stabilisers out.

You definitely need to be properly placed on the first go.

There's probably no coming back

from a mistake ending up in the water.

I'll tighten up the lines, and you can check the rigging.

We've got quite the crew here, right now.

Senior's in his wrecker,

and we've got Daren and Junior

down below at the water right now,

actually rigging a lot of the lines that we're going to need.

It's going to be a big pull.

..and before they even run a single winch...

Whoa, go easy!

This ain't a good sign when it's caving in before we start.

That part is literally the cliff giving away under the outriggers.

Putting the wreckers on there

is not a warm fuzzy feeling for sure.

If the ground gives out on the wreckers,

we're going to lose the wreckers down the hill.

We haven't even started,

and the ground is caving in on us on the bank.

You can see it starting to let go pretty much everywhere.

That's one of those things we're not coming back from.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

You ready?

Whoa, go easy!

We haven't even started,

and the ground is caving in on us on the bank,

and you can see it starting to let go pretty much everywhere.

On the edge of Lake Erie,

the County crew is fighting soft ground

as they start a hard pull.

That 55,000-pound excavator

could literally generate 100,000 pounds of resistance,

and we're not gonna really know

exactly what we're dealing with resistance-wise

until we start loading up these lines.

Well, it's not 401, but it's gonna be a hell of a pull.

It's mired in mud, it's in the lake...

I'm just going to run that boom in and get up a little bit,

if you don't mind.

They'll pull on a total of nine lines from the rotator and wrecker,

easing the excavator upward before the ground gives way.

I got good news.

I'm way too stupid to be scared.

We're literally running all the lines

we can to the machine that we can reach it with

because we need every bit of pull power we can generate.

Hey, guys!

But they'll need even more power than that.

Can I get one of you to come on up?

Eric wants an excavator operator inside the cab.

You comfortable doing what's gotta be done here?

We're gonna actually use the excavator itself,

so. the machine will be able to put the hole in the ground

and do a little bit of lift and drag itself.

We just don't want you to lurch on us, and then you slide,

and it shock-loads all the lines.

Then we lose our bite, then we lose all the tension,

we gotta start all again.

It's always a risk when you have an operator in that machine.

If we could ever do it without, we would,

but unfortunately, it needs to be controlled,

it needs to be operated.

Daren, you good? Good.

Senior? Ready.

OK, let's get 'er.

Tighten 'em up there, sir.

Keep him coming.

Senior! Whoa!

You gotta tighten yours up a bit for me.

I'm losing the ground here.

We're only able to get the rotator straight onto it.

The other heavy is kinda off to the side,

which causes a little bit of problem.

However, we wanna pull this evenly, both of us.

Can you snug up? Pull!

Snug up.

The lines are in place.

We're pulling with everything we have, and it's still not moving.

OK, more on your yellow.

To get that motion going is always the hardest.

It's almost like having this excavator in the lake

with a big suction cup on the bottom of it.

Keep pulling!

On your red.

When you're dealing with the excavator,

it's not like you've got a truck on wheels,

where the wheels are turning for you.

Whoa! We're maxed.

It's dragging us back.

Stop!

We've got, basically, a big chunk of steel

that's hung up on the wall.

It doesn't want to move.

Heading out of Milton, we have

only one lane getting by in both directions of the 401.

We have a significant spill as well.

Back on the 401 west of Toronto...

..with the offload tanker still stuck in traffic...

Hold on, hold on! Hold on!

..the heavy crew is working to shift the trailer

and stop the flow of wine.

..but even with the load now contained...

Well, it's still full.

..they can't clear the highway until they pump it out.

Hey, fellas, where's the other tanker?

Hey, hey! On this side!

Our spare tanker has arrived.

I am anxious to get the damaged tanker righted

and on a flatbed to have it removed.

Do your thing, guys, thank you!

..but pumping it out will take more time,

and early-morning traffic

is already adding to the long backup.

I'd absolutely love to have this highway

open before daybreak,

but this is a big job.

We have to do it right, we have to do it safe.

We're minutes away from rush hour.

We still have drivers

that are still stuck in this closure.

They're frustrated, and they want to get moving.

It's empty.

Go! Do it!

Sergeant Dunnah can finally see the end on the horizon.

That's what we wanted, nice and smooth.

This tanker truck's on its wheels.

We're going to have it towed,

we're going to have the highway ploughed,

and we are out of here.

It's been a long night.

We are ready to get everybody home safely.

Some good news just west of the city.

Crews have finally cleared

that rolled-over tanker truck on the 401.

Traffic is already starting to improve

just in time for the peak of the morning rush.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Whoa! We're maxed.

It's dragging us back.

On the side of the lake in Wheatley...

Stop!

..the crew has made no headway with the mud-mired excavator.

Everyone, just hold it a minute.

It's always frustrating

when you run every bit of winch line you have,

and you're throwing everything at it that you can,

and nothing is moving.

Can we go under her?

They need to change the plan.

What about if we put me on that chain, keep me separate,

'cause I've got a better angle to here,

and take your dad's on the other centre.

That'll just change the angles up for us, right?

We really only have one option.

We're gonna basically just take Senior's winch line

and move him to one of the rig spots that I'm at on the far side,

and then I'm gonna put my lines to where he's rigged.

I'm gonna come down, Daren, and give you a hand.

Just change the angles, is literally what it comes to.

I'm coming down, Dar.

I'm concerned about Eric, going down there

with his bad knees and stuff.

The ground is so treacherous.

Oh! (BLEEP) me!

Yeah.

For the past few winters,

the strain of three decades working heavy recovery

has started catching up with Eric.

I've got extremely bad shoulders and knees to begin with,

and I certainly don't need to be in a hole.

It hurts more than I care to talk about.

Who the (BLEEP) put a hole there? Who'd have figured?

Who'd have thunk! Who'd have thunk?

Coming to work every day is difficult for me.

You know, I really struggle with it.

My wife is talking about me retiring early.

Um, young.

We're going to go over top of your dad's 'cause mine's higher.

Yeah.

I love him to death, but he's stubborn.

He's got to go down and check his rigging.

OK, I'll go up and get a shackle.

You just got to do this right there.

I'll get it.

I just always have felt that sense of responsibility,

'cause I'm the guy pulling on the controls.

I just know I like everyone to go home at the end of the day.

I know. Aw, (BLEEP)

You tell us when he's going,

and I'll tell Senior to start pulling.

OK, he's coming. OK, Junior, we're good!

With Eric satisfied the new rigging is safe for the crew.

They're ready for the second round.

Take it slow. Let Senior catch up.

The hard part, literally, is that first ten feet, right?

He's gotta keep helping, Daren. We're maxed.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

Stop! Stop everything.

The ground's going on us.

Hold it!

It's literally the last thing we need at this point.

Be careful, the legs are moving.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

Stop! Stop everything. The ground's going on us.

Hold it.

On the shore of Lake Erie, the County crew is losing ground.

You can see how close we came to losing everything.

OK, everybody stop now!

We've got to have some kind of land behind this wrecker,

which is not going to be here much longer.

Now, it's time to think outside the box.

..and the boss might have an idea.

Why doesn't he go right around and push himself down?

Put the bucket in the water.

He'll give himself lift then.

Yeah.

We need to use the excavator to do the lift.

So, we're gonna have him swing around into the lake,

bucket down,

to basically level out that excavator.

Instead of pulling himself up,

Derek wants the operator to push downward, the other way...

It's going to give it that lift over that break wall

that's so crucial we don't want to damage,

and make it a little easier on the pull with the wreckers.

..but the move will require the driver to swing around his boom

and work over the water.

Daren, how much of a free-fall is he in if we lost him?

It's a risky manoeuvre.

Once he starts swinging around, the weight changes.

If something goes wrong, it'll go really wrong.

Hey, Senior.

His machine, right now, if we lost it, is free-fall.

It'll be upside-down.

That's where you're going to end up losing the operator

if we let the machine go.

You gonna move it when you're ready?

Yes, I am.

Just do everything slow, and watch the lines.

Yeah.

He's gonna move the bucket now, guys.

OK, are we ready? Let's do it! Give 'er a pull.

Hey, tell him to go easy!

Easy... He's into our lines.

Everything has to be done really slow, keep the lines tight,

and just make sure that we don't allow anything to go wrong.

Easy!

The operator has pushed free of the mud.

Now, he needs to spin back around...

Time for his big-boy pants when he's picked up that bucket.

..avoiding all nine winch lines.

Slow! Slow on our lines!

Make sure he's careful he doesn't catch that rigging

on the rotators.

Go ahead!

OK, he's walking. Everything loose now, Daren.

Yup, he's good.

It's a real good feeling when you see the machine

pop up over that break wall, and now it's no longer stuck.

Whoa! That's it!

That's all they want. They want to put the track on there.

The gamble definitely paid off to put the operator in the machine,

and it's a real big relief that it did.

Pretty good!

Got 'er up now, did everything we expected.

If I can get Eric to quit walking down the hill,

though, we'd be better!

(LAUGHS)

Extremely relieved to be done this one.

It's been a long day, and a really sore day for me,

so, it's time to pack 'er up and call it a day.

Nothing's upside-down, nothing's wet.

That's a win.

Well, we're... we're gonna put the track back on tonight,

and we're gonna finish this break wall.

Time's ticking! We gotta get it done.

Despite his pain and doubts about the future,

for tonight, Eric will enjoy the win.

I wake up in the morning, I'm looking a little older,

I'm struggling a little bit more,

but I still love what I do, so I'm, uh,

I'll be at work tomorrow morning.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Let's go! Let's go!

Almost 500 miles northeast...

Let's go on a tow call. Come on!

..a new day is starting at Cornwall Towing...

Let's go.

..and a new chapter is starting for operator Mike McPhee.

I kept trying to get on my feet and start walking.

Took a while, it took a couple of months,

but I never gave up.

After breaking both his ankles,

Mike didn't know if he would ever work,

or walk, again.

Well, you got three new helpers here,

so, I don't know what's gonna happen.

Your job is always here.

We're a small, tight-knit group,

and there's no way I would ever consider

just sending him packing because of something like this.

Thank you, sir!

Two to three hours a night, I put my foot up,

and I kept trying to make my toes move,

and stand on one leg for a little bit,

and just keep doing it.

I fell down a few times,

but I got back up, and I went at it again.

I just didn't give up.

Now, he's fought his way back to the cab of a tow truck...

Come here. Come over here. That's my boy. Sit.

..but he's still a long way from his old job.

Some people say,

"What are you doing driving the small truck?"

Well, just taking it easy until I get back in the big trucks.

Make sure I'm healed before I start doing the heavy stuff.

Today, he takes his first step.

I gotta do a boost in St Andrew's Church.

There's a woman's car broke down.

How we doing today, ma'am?

I'm good, thanks!

She won't start for you?

No, I must have left the dome light on

when I was in the church.

OK, you wanna pop the hood, and I'll put a boost on ya?

OK.

Yeah, I'd rather do the chains than doing this.

This is for beginners.

You want to try it now, ma'am?

OK. Ah!

There we go! Thank you!

I gave her a boost, everything went good,

but I don't want to be a light-duty driver,

I want to be a heavy-duty driver.

Hey, hey! You want a doughnut?

We're gonna go for a doughnut.

Today was just the beginning, but Mike's already beating the odds.

My goal is to just get back on the 401,

and help the boys out on the highway.

That's what I want to do.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Well, I don't know what we're getting into,

but I was asked to please bring a chainsaw with me.

Any time I hear those words, it's gonna be a job.

50 miles west, Mike's boss, Duncan Cooper,

is heading to a much heavier job,

providing backup for another company...

It's always different working with a new guy,

but we're going to see what happens when we get there.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

..and as Duncan rolls up, he can see the damage is severe.

The front end of that tractor-trailer was

what ploughed the path over trees, and stumps, and fence.

There was not too much left.

Mike? Duncan!

Yeah, hey, pleased to meet ya. Pleasure's mine, sir.

Yeah, that one here farming or what?

Yup.

Looks to be a good one.

Mike Spoto is a veteran Toronto operator

answering a call from a customer...

but the job calls for some extra muscle.

I'm actually excited because you know what?

Some of these guys have some great ideas,

and we trade ideas back and forth.

Any fuel leaks?

No, no fuel leaks. Good.

OK, so you're in charge of fencing, and I'll go get my saw?

Sounds good! OK.

Oh, yeah.

(LAUGHS)

Beauty!

I'm going to bring this tree down, Mike!

Yeah, give 'er, Duncan!

Lots of trees, lots of stumps, fence.

Everything in the way.

Big mess.

..but as Duncan clears the brush,

there's a problem hiding under the semi.

I see what looks like a tree stump, or the base of a tree.

It may cause some hangups.

There's a lot of hidden unknowns.

We don't actually know what's under there.

Our biggest concern here is watching the fuel tanks.

The fuel tanks are in good shape,

they're not ruptured, they're not leaking,

so, we want to keep it that way.

See the other side?

No, not yet.

He's right up on top of a stump there.

It's going to be a real bitch, eh?

Yeah, it is.

Bad.

Big mess.

He's right up on top of a stump there.

In a field off of the 401 near Prescott...

It's going to be a real bitch, eh? Yeah, it is.

..Duncan has discovered a threat

to the underside of the mangled tractor.

We know there's some stumps and stuff under this unit.

Like, we have the environment on our mind the whole time.

It should pull away from that

if we just do a straight jackknife right off the bat.

We're going to throw a chain around the frame,

start giving 'er a yank.

We're going to winch it out into the nice grass.

Then we're going to cage the brakes on the tractor

because right now, we can't even get at the brakes.

(GRUNTS) Got it...

Mike will pull the tractor sideways, away from the debris.

Good man!

I'll wait here, I'll watch ya.

Just go real slow for the first bit.

Duncan will need to watch for any sign of damage

to the fuel tanks or oil pan...

Feeling strong?

OK, go!

That's a heavy one.

..and a broken stump is holding on tight to the chassis.

Hey, Mike?

I can see you starting to lean,

so, why don't I just pull right up beside you,

and just run one line out, just give you a hand.

Yeah, I'll just give you a little bit of a hand

just to get it around the corner, and then we got it.

Yeah, yeah.

It should break free

and start its trip back to the side of the road.

Ay-yi-yi.. Come on.

OK. OK, guys, clear?

Watch out!

Huge difference, eh?

That's what you want right there.

You want that coming up just like that.

I think your winch might be faster than mine.

Remember that tree stump we were talking about?

That's it.

Now, they'll have to fight the weight

of the fully-loaded trailer.

I love these guys, "What are you loaded with?"

"Boxes." Yeah.

I don't know. Boxes of bricks.

Even worse, the air supply for the brakes

suffered damage in the crash.

We have to release the brakes,

but there was no good place left

in the front of the truck to run an air supply to.

The air tank was buried underneath.

OK, I'm going to get my other line out,

then we'll go over to that dolly as well, OK?

All they can do is try to wrench the semi-free.

I'm going to go a little lower, too, I think.

That way, I'm not tipping.

Ready, Freddy? Yeah!

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

She's going.

It's just dragging me in, Duncan!

Come on, baby.

Come hell or high water, this thing's coming out of here.

Bring 'er, man!

She is moving!

Come on!

No!

No way, Duncan. I'm going in!

Something's not right here. We got to see what's going on.

Why is this giving us such a hard time?

She's wedged in there good!

(SIGHS)

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

See the snow's starting to come in now, eh?

I thought we were going to get the sunny weather for this deal,

but I guess not.

300 miles west in Bruce County, Bryce Weber is heading to work.

There's days where it calls for light flurries,

and you can't see the end of the driveway,

so, it's unpredictable.

Bryce is the lead op of Aces Towing, based in Mildmay,

where storms blow in off Lake Huron...

We focus mostly on the heavy-duty work.

We do a lot of farm-related work, transport and towing and recovery.

..and they've built a strong reputation

working alongside

some of the top companies in the province.

At least, you brought the best bags on the market.

Oh, yeah.

I met Bryce about six years ago.

Any time I get a job up in his neighbourhood,

I'll give him a shout.

Alright, let's go, Sparky.

Bryce is a friend of mine, also a colleague with us.

Got 'er.

Driver requested. New Michelins for the old boy.

I run the business with my mum and dad.

Dad's in a truck full-time. He'll be 67 this year.

Speaking of which, there he is.

Well... Seems to be working.

We have our days, like every family has their days,

but we seem to work around it.

We got him cornered.

I'm old-school, I guess that's the problem.

He's new school. (CHUCKLES)

You might want to put some safety shoes on, though.

(LAUGHS)

The sandal crew.

..and my mum's in the office.

What do you want?

Seven nuts out of the kickbox.

What can I get?

Nothin'. You can supervise.

Dinner!

There's good things, there's bad things...

But... (LAUGHS)

..at the end of the day, we are family-run,

and, yeah, all my guys are like family too, so great group of guys.

Today, Bryce and crew are heading 30 miles north,

toward the shore of Lake Huron.

Is it on the right side up here, Scott?

We roll up on the scene, and I see a tractor-trailer.

It's down a ten feet ditch.

It's laying in four or five feet of snow.

What are you thinking?

Looks like the ditch gets steeper.

Yeah, that's a nice tank!

Stinks. (CHUCKLES)

The tanker is loaded with 45,000 pounds of yeast

that must stay inside.

It's a food-grade load, it's an expensive load.

The company has requested that we get it out-loaded,

if possible.

Crew members Garrett and Scott get to work on shovel duty.

We're going to clean as much snow away as we can.

It makes the job go easier and smoother.

Like, right there is ground.

Yeah, I did two on the other side.

I'm hoping we can get under like that.

Look at that ditch. It's straight up.

I think the rotator's going to float hard doing this.

I really thought it wasn't quite that steep

when it was full of snow.

I know.

Junior op Cayden makes room for the crew to work...

He's got the easiest job, and he's the youngest guy here.

(LAUGHS)

That is a deep ditch!

Let's go to the front on the other side

and see where we're going to hook to.

..and as they get a better look at the cleared terrain,

they see just how tough this battle will be.

Oh, man.

Once we got digging in and realised how steep it was,

that unit is going to fight us all the way up.

We've got our work cut out for us.

It's going to be awfully hard to pull.

On the 401 west of Cornwall...

Not going, Duncan!

Oh...

..Duncan and Mike have only gained inches in their fight

to pull the semi-free...

The brakes are locked, and it's just holding us.

It's pulling two great big tow trucks backwards.

..but when Duncan takes a closer look...

Hang on a sec!

..he sees that all their pulling might not have been in vain.

I can get at that.

There! There we go!

From the first time we pulled to the time we stopped,

it exposed a good spot to run an air supply to.

Need a pair of vise grips and a fitting.

We're going to, uh, attempt to run an air supply to the tank,

hope for no leaks.

It will only work

if the lines running to the brakes are still intact.

Praying for no air leaks.

Okey-dokey?

Ready to go!

Try again.

Come on!

Come on, baby.

There we go!

That's what we wanted, an hour ago.

Once the air supply went to the tractor wheels,

it released all the brakes.

We started winching, and it just popped outta there like nothing.

Yeah, the truck just bit real good, right?

Yeah. Bang, and then that was it.

Finally broke loose, so... OK!

..we're on our way out of the ditch.

Any time, buddy!

Whoa!

Yes, siree!

Ah, there we go.

I didn't think it was going to be quite that difficult

to get going, but surprise!

Each job presents a different challenge,

and I feed off that.

It's something new every time.

Thank you, Duncan!

Thank you very much for the call.

Pleasure working with you. It was a blast, man.

See ya.

(HONKS HORN)

Back north of Mildmay...

I'd rather over-rig it.

Once we get hooked to this, we can't let it go.

..Bryce and the Aces crew have cleared

as much snow as they can,

and are hooking up for the lift...

Two rotators would be handier today.

..and with almost 50,000 pounds inside the tank,

there's another complication.

This trailer has got stainless tanks,

but it's got a stainless frame and an aluminium frame.

Aluminium is soft.

You can pull a chain through aluminium very easily,

so, you keep an eye on that.

..but there's no way to avoid running

some of their chains around the aluminium framework.

Bottom, side, or top on the suspension?

Bottom, I want to slide it.

OK.

That's a lot of lines.

The rotator, wrecker, and flatbed

will drag the truck and trailer close to the road,

and then roll the tanker upright.

Let's do this.

Biggest thing we got to keep an eye on is that cross-member

where the chain is, if it starts to bend or move.

It's a critical attachment point for us on the front of this thing.

I'm going to start.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

I want to go slow, see what it does.

Here, it's coming.

We're watching for things like the strap,

and we start to wrinkle the skin of the tank, and then,

where we've got our chains around on the frame,

we were into some aluminium.

You're not sure if the aluminium's gonna start to rip,

so, you keep an eye on that.

That is steep.

Just keep pulling harder on your top one for a minute.

Whoa! Stop!

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

With the truck now close to the road,

Bryce wants to adjust the rigging before they upright.

We got an 80,000-pound truck,

and we're going to have to lift 70 of 'er.

We're going to need some wicked lift here.

Wonder if I can get another strap under,

make a big V out of it.

Yeah, that'll go.

We've got a 26-foot strap, and we're going to basket it

to make it a 13-foot strap.

We'll get a wider footprint on the trailer,

and then it'll also pretty well double its rating.

Let's see what it does when you boom out.

OK, bring 'er a bit.

The hard part is it's over 90 degrees.

It's over centre, what we'd call it, so your initial lift is a hard one.

It's probably going to come a foot or two before it bites.

It's got to pack all that snow in.

So, we want it to dig into the snow bank

in the edge of the ditch to get it upright

because if we get it right on the flat,

you run the risk of it sliding towards you.

Hey, Scott?

We'll be able to use the boom, it's biting.

Just feather the drag.

Hang on, Scott!

I just want to keep these tight when it comes over

so, it doesn't slide down the ditch.

Tankers are always a fight. I don't know what it is.

They're so slippery.

Can you bring the front end more?

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

Little more. That's good.

The tanker is upright, but still leaning.

They need to slide it onto level ground.

OK, see if you can boom in now, and I'm going to try the same.

You better get tightened up on that.

I don't trust my back cross-member too much.

I gotta see if I got a little bit more here.

Little more. That's good!

You're pulling it out, Garrett.

Alright. (LAUGHTER)

We've done what the customer asked.

We got the full load, we haven't touched the seal,

so, we'll be delivering it within the next hour.

(LAUGHS)

Isn't that a bastard? Now, I gotta front-tow it!

The blown tire might require the crew to tow the truck away,

but with no serious damage,

this hard-fought battle is a victory.

I'm very happy with the way that went.

Take some time, rig and re-rig, get it where you want it.

We got a great bunch of guys.

When you do a job like this,

it just kind of shows you how well you work together.

Good?

Yeah, go up a bit.

Back towards you.

Looks like the weather's starting to come in here now,

so, we'll get this done and get home.

Dad's been holding the fort down for us today, and...

(CHUCKLES)

he's run off his feet,

so, we'll give him some support when we get back.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

(HONKS HORN)

Captioned by Ai-Media ai-media.tv